Door construction



June 4, 1940. w HQRSTMAN I 2,203,264

DOOR CONSTRUCTION I Filed Sept. 28,1936 m 45 44 46 1 197/?& 40 5B m/mmPatented June 4, 1940 UNITED STATES Fries l I 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved door construction and particularlythat type of door comprising a series of hinged'door sections hinged tothe top edge of the door frame in such a manner that the sections maybelifted or elevated to folded overlapping positions adjacent to the uppersurface of the door frame in which the door is mounted.

I am aware that a number of doors have been constructed of sectionsadapted to fold in the manner above described. However, most or all ofthese doors, insofar as I am aware, are provided with verticallyarranged channels or guide devices'mounted on the sides of the doorframe to co-operate with rollers or other suitable guid ing meanscarried by the doorsections, so as to cause the door sections to befolded in a predetermined manner. These guide devices are objectionableon the grounds that the door frames sometimes sag and .get out ofalignment causing a certain amount of binding between the the doorsections and the guides, resulting in difficulty in causing the'sectionsto fold properly. Furthermore, this'adds' considerably to the eX- penseof the door construction. It is, therefore,

one of the objects of my invention to provide a simple, durable andinexpensive door construction formed preferably of two hinged sectionsand so constructed and arranged that the above mentioned guide devicesmay be entirelyv eliminated.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a door construction ofthe type above described, improved means formoving the door sectionsfrom their closed vertical positions to their open and horizontal foldedpositions, and for controlling the oscillation of the door sections asthey are moved to said folded position, without the use of expensiveguides or tracks.

A further object of my invention is toprovide in a folded doorconstruction of the type above described in which the guides and tracksare eliminated, improved means for sealing the vertical joints betweenthe side edges of the door and the adjacent door frames when the doorsections are closed.

A further object is to provide improved means for locking or holding thedoor in its folded and open position to steady the same againstoscillation due to heavy winds.

A further object is to provide in a door construction of the typeabovedescribed, improved means to assist in moving the door sections to theirclosed positions and for locking them in said closed positions.

(or. zo-sm My invention consists in the construction, arrangement andcombination of the various parts of the device whereby the objectscontemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointedout in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is an inside view of a building, such'as a garage, illustratingthe manner in which my improved door construction is mounted therein,the door being supported in its open position.

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of the same taken on theline 2-4 of Figure l, with the doors in their closed positions, thedoors also being shown in dotted lines in their open positions, and indotted lines in partially open positions.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. v

Figure e is an enlarged detail view illustrating the stop and guiderollers used in connection with the opening and closing operations ofthe door.

In the drawing I have used the reference numeral iii toindicate abuilding frame, suclras a garage, having in one end a door frame I 9comprising side members l2 and a top member l3. Hinged beneath the inneredge of the frame member It is a door section M, by means of suitablehinges l5, and hinged to the lower edge of the door section M is a doorsection it, by means of hinges ii, the hinges ill being mounted on theouter faces of the said door sections, as clearly illustrated in Figure2. The upper door section Id is substantially one third the height ofthe door section it, so that the door sections may be swung to closedpositions, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2, with two-thirdsof the lower edge of the door section it extending outwardly andlaterally from the-front face of the building iii, with the upper end ofthe door section it and the door section it projecting inwardly, theweight of the inwardly extending sections being substantially equal tothe weight of the outwardly extending section, the side edges of thedoor sections It and it being adapted to move freely between the framemembers it as they are moved from a closed position to any openposition, and vice versa.

For counter-balancing the weight of the doors as they are moved to saidclosed positions, I have provided on the top surface of the members it,pulleys l8, 99, iii and 2t, and through the frame member 53, openings22, one of the openings 22 being adapted to receive a flexible cable 25passing over the pulleys it and 29 and having one end connected to thedoor member [6 by means of a suitable staple 24. A similar cable 23 ismounted through the other opening 22 and'connected to another staple 24in the door I6, said cable 23 extending over pulleys l9 and 2|, saidcables 23 and 25 having their opposite ends connected to a bar 26, whichin turn is connected to a box 27, having its sides and bottom closed andits top open to receive suitable ballast 28, such as stones or sand, asufficient amount of the ballast being applied to give the desiredcounter-balancing effect.

The staples 24 are located in the outer face of the door section l6substantially one-third-of the distance from its upper edge to its loweredge, said cables extending upwardly along the outer face of the doorsections, as clearly indicated in Figure 2.

Due to the fact that the hinge members are connected with the innerfaces of the door section l4 and the hinge members I! are mounted on theouter faces of the door sections, strains applied to the cables 23 and25 in an upwardly direction tend slightly to move the door sections tothe dotted line position A, as illustrated in Figure 2.

To further assist in accomplishing this initial opening movement I haveprovided springs 29 having their upper ends connected to brackets 30carried by the member l3, and the lower ends connected to pivots 3|carried by the inner face of the lower edge of the door section I 4, theupper ends of the brackets 30 being a considerable distance above thepivots of the hinges I5, so as to maintain a constant pressure betweenthe door section [4 and the inwardly extending stop 32 when the doorsections are in their open positions, thereby providing a certain amountof stabilizing effect to prevent free oscillation of the door sectionsby wind currents, the stop 32 being secured to the upper face of themember l3.

For locking the outer end of the door section IS in its folded positionI have provided a bar 33 pivoted to said door section by means of abracket 34, said bar being adapted to swing downwardly against the innerface of the door section when the door is in its closed position, and tobe moved to an inwardly inclined position with its free end in a notch35 in the door frame, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Itwill readily be seen that as the door is moved to its closed positionthe member 33 will maintain a vertical position, as illustrated indotted lines B, Figure 2, thus providing a handle which may be easilygrasped by the operator so as to force the door to its closed position,if necessary.

The side edges of the inner face of the door section l4 are providedwith weather strips 36 designed to overlap the frame members l2 when thedoor sections are in their closed position. The upper half of the doorsection I6 is also provided with similar weather strips 31, having atthe lower ends brackets 38 for supporting a rod 39, the outer ends ofwhich are provided with rollers 40 designed to travel adjacent to theinner edge of the door frames I2 to prevent outwardly swinging movementof the door sections as they are moved from the dotted line position Ato their folded position.

The inner edges of the frame members l2 are provided with weather strips4|, adapted to overlap the inner face of the lower end of the doorsection I6. These members: 4| are permanently fixed in position andserve as stops to limit the inward movement of the lower end of the doorsections. The upper end of each of the strips 4| is provided with abracket 42 on which a roller. 43 is mounted, the rollers 43 serving asfulcrum. devices as the door sections are moved to their closed positionafter they have reached the dotted line position A. The doors may thenbe forced to a closed position by applying the operators foot to thelower edge of the door section l6, and then forcing the lower edge ofsaid door inwardly to the solid line position, as illustrated in Figure2. The door may then be locked by means of a latch comprising a pair ofbrackets 44 and a rod 45, said rod having an outwardly bent portion 46to form a handle for raising and lowering the rod member into and out ofa socket 41 formed in the floor of the building or the door frame. Thisportion 46 serves as a handle to assist in opening the door after it hasbeen unlocked.

Thus it will be seen I have provided a door of simple, durable andinexpensive construction having improved means for counter-balancing theweight of the door in which both of the cables 24 and 25 are connectedto the oppositeside edges of the door and to a single bar 26 supportinga common weight 21. By this arrangement the same elevating power will beapplied to both edges of the door sections. In case the operator shouldgrasp one edge of the door section after it has been partially opened,to assist in the opening movement of the door, then it will be seen thatadditional lifting force from the box 21 will be applied to the oppositeside of the door section in anamount equal to the lifting force appliedby the operator, so that at all times an equal lifting force is appliedto both sides of the door sections so as to overcome any bindingtendency that would be encountered if separate counter-balancing weightswere applied to each side of the door sections, in which latter case noadditional lifting effect would be produced by the weights on theopposite side of the door from which the operator was applying thelifting force.

By the use of the rollers 40 I have provided means for preventing anyexcessive oscillations of the doorv sections due to air currents at thetime the door sections are being moved to and y from their closedpositions, and for this reason it will be seen I have provided a door ofvery simple construction in which a very limited number of hinges arenecessary and in which all ver tical guide channels or similar trackdevices are eliminated, and which is particularlyadapted to be used inconnection with garage door openin s.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections withinsaid frame, means hinging the upper section to said framev and the lowersection to the upper section, said sections being adapted to swing froma vertical position to horizontal overlapping positions, a singlecounter balancing means, means operatively connecting saidcounter-balancing means to each end of as stops to limit the freeoscillation of the door,

sections in one direction as the sections are moved to their foldedpositions.

2. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections withinsaid frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lowersection to the upper section, said sections being adapted to swing froma vertical position to horizontal overlapping positions,counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections,simultaneously, means carried by the central portions of the side edgesof the door sections to travel adjacent to the side members of the doorframe to act as fulcrum devices in the preliminary opening movement ofthe door sections, and a second fulcrum device carried by the door framesupported immediately below the first fulcrum device when the doors arein closed position.

3.. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sectionswithin said frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and thelower section to the upper section, the upper section beingsubstantially one-third of the height of the lower section, saidsections being adapted to swing freely between the upright members ofsaid door frame from a vertical position to horizontally overlappingpositions, counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections,including flexible cables and sheaves, said cables having one set ofcorresponding ends attached to a weight and each of the other endsattached to opposite sides of the lower door section and intermediateits upper and lower edges whereby the weight will tend tocounter-balance the weight of the door sections as they are moved toopen and closed positions, and whereby the inner and outer ends of thedoor sections, when in a folded position, will be substantially balancedabout the points of attachment of the door sections with said cables,for the purpose stated.

4. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections Withinsaid frame, means hinging the upper section to the upper side of theframe and the lower section to the upper section to swing freely betweenthe vertical members of said frame, fixed fulcrum devices carried by thedoor frame to be engaged by the lower door section as the door sectionsare moved to nearly closed positions, and counter-balancing meanstending to move the door sections to overlapping and horizontalpositions whereby the door I sections may be moved freely to open andclosed positions without frictionally engaging guide devices or the doorframe.

5. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections withinsaid frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lowersection to the upper section, the upper section being substantiallyone-third of the height of the lower section, said sections beingadapted to swing freely between the upright members of said door frameand from a vertical position to horizontally overlapping positions,counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections, includingflexible cables attached to opposite sides of the lowerv door sectionand intermediate its upper and lower edges whereby the weight M willtend to counter-balance the weight of the door sections as they aremoved to open and closed positions, and whereby theinner and outer endsof the door sections, when in a folded position, will be substantiallybalanced about the points of attachment of the door sections with.

said cables for the purpose stated.

6. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections withinsaid frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lowersection to the upper section to swing freely between the verticalmembers of the door frame, said sections being adapted to swing from avertical position to horizontal overlapping positions,

counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sectionssimultaneously, and means carried by the central portions of the sideedges of the lower section to travel adjacent to one edge of the sidemembers of the door frame to prevent outward swinging-movement of thedoor sections as they are moved to their closed position.

WALTER G. HORSTMAN.

